Apparatus for detecting and localizing mineral deposits.



No. 817,736. PATENTED APR. 10, 1906.

L. DAFT &-A. WILLIAMS. I

APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AND LOGALIZING MINERAL DEPOSITS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 14, 1902- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- WITNESSES INVENTORS $710M 2 23% WWW Wxrmnnus No. 817,736. PATENTED APR. 10, 1906. L. DAFT & A. WILLIAMS. APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AND LOGALIZING MINERAL DEPOSITS.

APPLICATION FILED 00w. 4 1e 2.

1 0 2 sums-$33151 2.

WITNESSES INVENTORS VIJ M gmdo i ATTORNEYS to those electrodes, with the result that lines Warren STATES Parana enric LEO DAFT, or EALING: AND ALFRED WILLIAMS, or WIMBLEDON,

ENGLAND, AssieNoRs ro. rnrininnora caL ORE FINDING con-- PANY LIMITED, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AND LOCALIZING MINERAL DEPOSITS.

PatentedApril 10, 1906.

Kpplidation filed October 14,1902. Serial No. 127.261..

tains to make and use the same.

' This invention relates to the use of appa.

ratus which is adapted to produce from any convenient source of electricity electric impulses of a very abrupt character and to project these impulses through the crust of the earth into far-extending regions and.other apparatus which is adapted to detect the presence of those impulses at a considerable'distance and to difierentiate the character of their manifestations as afiected by the nature of the underlying material in the immediate neighborhood, with the object that by the use of the combined apparatus the otttiont and the boundaries of an underlying mineral deposit-maybe determined.

g The apparatus consists of, first, an inductor wherewith electric impulses are generated in a secondary circuit on the interruption 0 15 a primary circuit; second, a resonator or receiving instrument adapted to be tuned to respond readily to feeble electric impulses,

' and, third, electrodes which are adapted to,

facilitate the making of an earth contact and to be joined by wire conductors-two to the inductor and two to ther'esonator.

' The method {of observation adopted is as follows: Two electrodes are planted in the soil at about the center of the district which it is desired to explore, the distance apart being anything between,say, five and one hundred yards, de ending on circumstances. The inductor be ore mentioned is joined up of impulses are established in the neighbor ing underlying soil, which lines in the case of homogeneoussoil have directions like those of the lines of magnetic force due to a 'magnet which has its'poles at the'electrodes. proceeding along any one line of impulse there will be a steady fall of petential-from Deposits; and we do hereby declare the.

the positive to the negative electrode' line of steepest gradient of the potential will be the straight linefromrelectrode to electrode; but on each sideof that line and in the earth beneath there will be curved lines of falling potential somewhat of the'shape of an ellipse having an axis along the line joining the electrodes.

With our apparatus we have distinguished The these lines of impulses as far away from the inductor-electrodes as four miles, and accordingly the must extend downward below thesurface 0 the earth to a similar distance.

For the purpose of explaining how by these manifestations we are able to locate the position ,of a mineral deposit we will commence by stating that weaim at placing our electrodes in such a situation that the lines of impulses before mentioned cross the area of the deposit transversely. We. will assume that such a situation has been discovered and adopted and will describe the nature of the observations which follow.

' One of the electrodes'connected to the resonator is planted in the soil at some considerable distance from the inductor electrode s,,

and the operator carrying the other electrode proceeds from the first'electrode along the-line of impulse and touches the-soil atin tervals', at the same time listening at the resonator. If he is proceeding toward the mineral deposit, the sounds will gradually 'be come more intense.

electrodes are well within the boundary there will be comparative silence. These phenom ena may be explained by observing that the 1 lines of electric impulses will be concentrated toward a medium of superior conductivity, and that medium will be the principal conducting channel of the stream of impulses from one side to the other. If the mineral depositextended to the surface, (in which Hethen moves his first electrode in the same, direction andseeks to v falling ofl' ofthe sound and that when both case our 'methodof discovery would be unnecessary the electrodes would di into the stream and the manifestation woul be great; but if there is overlying material of a nonconductive character, as in the case assumed, the electrodes will be more or less entirely insulated. from the current of impulses which Wlll be coursing through the conducting-min? eral material below and the resonator will be more or less silent.

' Much jud ment andexperience will be requ'isite to ena le an operator in an entirely unknown field to reach the desired goal quickly;

but the above description will indicate the of operators with resonators may be explor ingthe district at the same time, the excitement for all bein roduced by the sin le or the duplex pair 0 P g Inductor-electrodes.

In order to obtain reliable results undera large variety of conditions as to the general conductivity of the soil and the special conductivity oithe portion which is sought, we require our lnducting apparatus to be capable of emitting'impulses which have a W1d6,

, Variety g1 respect to the factors ener y, po-

tentia quency, and abruptness of uctuation. Hence there are many parts, all-of which are called into requisition at one time or another. g

One. of the important features on which the success of the o erations with our instruments depends ist e exceeding abruptness of fluctuation ofthe impulses,,which'we are,

able to achieve by superposing two or more causes of fluctuation one onfthe other by placingl them in series or byplacing them in paralle Often a considerable ofzelectrical' energy has to be transmitted. This whenooncentrated by greatabruptnessof action is liable to damage-the instrument. Safety apliances are therefore introduced, such-as a se and a maximum safety sparking "gap; 'Also it is advantageous to have an ammeter in the circuit. These contrivances are in. the interests of simplicity omitted from the draw ings, which show the apparatus whereby we carry out our process.

- Referrin 'tqthedrawings, which form a' portion of t especification, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the inductor,

its fittingsfand its leads. Fig. 2 is a plan.

determined the transverse semview of the armature and poles of the inductor-electromagnet; and Figs. 3 to 7 are var1- us views of the resonator, its-electrodes, and

wire connections.

- The core of the inductor A is composed of a bundle of soft-iron wire which is bent into the form of an elongated U. The. arms of the U extend beyond the bobbins which carry-the wire circuits and form the pole-pieces a, a. Between them is pivoted an armature b which is composed of many layers of soft trans: former-iron of eater sectional area than the core. The en s of the armature are shaped so that when the gap between the poles is bridged as fully as possible the armature will be in contactv with the poles over as large an extent of surface as possible. (See Fig. 2.)

Sufficient frictibn is provided at the piyots to retain the armature 1n osition, with any desired Width of air-gap etween its ends'and the oles of the magnet. The combined lengt of the ole-pieces, together with the armature whic is adopted, is equal tothat A v of the joining-arc b at. the lower end of" the magnet for the purpose of balancing.the-mag= *IlGtlQ circuit when the air-gap is closed. r

The ends .of the coils d d of'the primary wire are led to a switch-B, which is so con-1 I structed that the two primary coils may.

either be laced in series with one another or in paralle as may be desired. In the drawings they areshownin series.- The primary circuit is also associated with the condenser C;

The interruption of the primary circuit is i effected by an independent duplex break D,

theelectromagnetof which'is energized by an independent circuit from 'asource of electricity. The. primary currentv may be taken through the two breaksin parallel or in se-- ries, as desired, or one; break alone may be used. In the drawings the connections shown j efiect the assa e in parallel.-

' The pat of t e primary current with the connections, as shown, is as follows: Starting from a source of electricity, whichis re 'esented by a battery E, the current ows through the switch Fito' a binding-post 1,

which is in contact with thestrip 2' oflthe switch B. Fromxthis it goes to. the 11 per end of theleft-hand primary coil, then om thelowerend ofthat coil to thefstrip 30f the switch B. This and the adjacent-strip 4 rest onstuds which are electricall united, whereby-the current proceeds tot e .upperefid of the right-hand coil and, emerging at the lower end, which is joined up to the stri 5., the current gets to the adjoining "bin ing-post 6. Eromthe binding- 0st 6 the current is led through the break in parallel.

This apparatus is symmetrically arranged in duplicate on each side of a central plane. The course through one side only will'be traced, the other being precisely similar, as be clear from the drawings. ,A wire frdm the binding-post 6 conducts the current rent is conducted down the standard to the strip 11 and from the binding-post 12 back to the source of electricity E, being on I obedience to the attraction the weighted 'arthe way joined up to one element of the con, denser C, the other element being connected to the binding-post 6. The break in this pri mary occurs by the severance of the contacts 8 and 9, which is effected in the following manner: An electromagnet g on being ener-' gized by a source of electricity h attracts its pivoted armature i, which armature carries a weight adjustable in position. When in mature has acquired-a considerable velocity the end of a projecting rod v7r, which is sesecured to it, strikes the pivoted arm 7 and.

very abruptly breaks the contact of the ends of8 and 9. Further movement of the armature 'i causes it to breakicontact with the fixed but adjustable contacfiscrew Z, and s0 severs the connection with the source of electricity h, which permits the magnet g to become denergized. The armature i will now return by the pull of a spring m, and the contact of 8 and 9 will be resumed; so, also, will the contact of the armature with Z, causing the magnet to..-be againjenergized, and so on repeatedly. One of thechief merits of this contrivance is that the contactsS and 9 re main together for a considerable traction of the eriod of vibration, which fraction is ca pab e of adjustment to suit the degree of saturation which is desired. Also the duplication of the breaking-points enables a greater degree of uniformity of action to be main-. tained.for a length of time. A further im-- portant efl ectis derivable from our duplex break by adjusting the weights 7'. be adjusted so that the period of vibration is the same for both and unison of break obtained, or any desired degree of discordance may be introduced. The superposition of these discordant breaks, either in arallel or in series,- will greatly assist in r0 ucing'the far-traveling and-[.attention-cal ing impulses which are requisite for attaining our object.

It is not necessary to use both contact-i screws Zv at the same time to, energize the magnet g. One of them is withdrawn far enough to be out of action'and ready as a re- If it is desired-to use one break'only, then one of the'strips 11 is withdrawn, as shown in dotted lines 11" on the right-hand side. If, on the other hand, it is desired to send the current through both breaks in series instead ofin parallel, the wire connection from the binding-post 6' to the ost'n, is removed and,

the terminal wire bac to E is disconnected from the post 12 and joined up to the ppstgn.

They may.

.which the electrode K is connected.

effect by ,requiiing the current to leap 1 Returning now to the switch B,.we will describe how, by means of it, the two coils d d of the electromagnet A are traversed in parallel instead of in series. Qn a slide 0 are mounted two plates p and g,as Well as four studs. In the position shown the studs are underneath the ends of the spring-strips 2 3 4 5 and in contact with them, and the current flows along the strips in the order as above described ,but if the slide 0 is moved to the neath the ends of the strips2 3 4 5 and in contact with them, the contact with the studs being broken. The plate p will also be connected with the binding-post 1 and the plate g with the post 6. Under these circumstances theprimary'current will enter the. plate p and divide; flowing in parallel along the striips 2 and 4 and down through the coils d and and so td the plate q, where the two halves rejoin-and proceed to the break, as before described. So much for the primary circuit.

- The secondary wire is Wound in sections which are separated from one another by transverse planes. 'Thiswire is connected left the plates 1) and g are brought under--,

up to a series-parallel switch G Of the same construction asB the position of the slide shown in the drawings being such as to cause the circuit to be in series through the two secondary coils of the magnet A.- The lead of the secondary may readilybe traced to the two bindin'gosts 13 on the right hand and 20 on the left Awire joins the post 13 toa post 14 on a sparkin -gap apparatus, in which two pairs of a? 'ernative sparking oints are rovided. The pair H, which ave somew at sharp points, are shown in opleration, the other pair Ibeing switched off. T e secondary current traverses a wire to the screw 15 of one sparking point and leaping the gap arrives at the screw 1601? the other point, from which it gets to the plug J, to j in this way the current gets to earth and. after traversing it enters the second electrode L,

which is connected to the other plug M,

From M the connection is made to a stud 17 and when the switch 181s in the position shown the current ended screws 19 o thenceto the binding-post 20 on the seriespasses to one of the blunt- .lpaifialleli switch 'G, thus completing the circ it. 7

When it is desired to obtainamore inte e manner, but in parallel with the earth instead of being in series when the sparking gap H 'dsfrom the flow and reis iised. Branc turn wires of the"- secondary are joined to the sparking'gap I and studs 53 to 56 take the place of the former studs the two coils will be in'series, and a further shift of the slide will cause the inner coil to be cut out of the circuit. I The electrode 42 consists of a metal rod incased at its up er end in insulating mate-' rial. Ahole isdri ed longitudinallyattheupper end to receive a screw 61, the ,head'of which is insulated. There is also a-transverse hole 62, through which the connecting-wire is threaded, the wire being-secured by thescrew 61. The other electrodes are similarly constructed.

In addition to the variations in inductance of the secondary coil, which are provided for by means ofthe series parallel switch G, it is evident that it is capable of wide variation as to ca acityby means of the'switch N, which p aces its external terminals or condensers in series, in parallel, or singly, as the operator may find suitable to accord with 10- cal conditions.

The double circuit-break when used in arallel' produces a discordant effect, whic is easily detected in the telephone as distinct from the dischar e' due to single break. This is desirable on t e ground of its greater enduring qualities due to the double platinum contacts.

The function of the spark-gap is an indispensable one for our long-distance exploring work apart from the question of oscillation.

Theefl'ectof introducing the s ark-gape'ven without tuning is to greatly en argkittlhe area which canbe explored from one'eart g. For instance, with a coil using sixty-watts energy in the primary and (E 12 C 5) and with a ratio of fifteen to one and primary condenser of, 1.5 motive force capacity with earthings two' hundred feet a art the limit of audition with telephone 6811131111 s also two hundred feet apart was found to e ab ut six hundred yards in ordinary moist earth. Under exactly the same conditions the introduction'ofa secondary condenser of about .001 motive force ca- 2 pacity '(adjustableover a ran e of .0005 to work to find the dischar e across a spark gap becoming unidirectional at nearly the limit of sparking distance for the potential and capac1ty em loyed, and it is at this point of' what has een named tuning that we find 1 the effect not only niuch. more efiective in exploration, but also infinitely more sensitive to the proximity of mineral deposlts.

The term tuning as used in the specification is intended only .to mean that the fre quency of break in the two coils when used as described is dissimilar, so as to enable the operator to distinguish them during exploration. The function ofthe elements 23, 24,

- three or more platinum arms projecting from the shaft and engaging the adjustable arm 24, either in actual contact or at such distance as the operator may wish, thus forming a secondary and auxiliary sparkgap earth. It is evident that the circuit is com pleted through the rubbing contact-spring 25 and the switch26.

In order to avoid the efiects of merely surface conduction, due to condenser discharges of small capacity, and therefore of high freuency, in many cases we referably employ t e previousLy-described a justments of condensers and secondary circuits to conform with Kelvins law of obtaining unidirectional impulses, and so cause the discharges to be more difiused and capable of indicating mineral deposits at considerable depth, which would otherwise escape detection.

We claima 1. An apparatus for locating mineral -de-- posits consisting of a combination of a source of electricity, an inductor which isadapted to emit fluctuating electric impulses, two portable electrodes which are electrically 0011- nected, having the battery and inductor in series between them,"two other portable elec trodes which are electrically connected and a resonator which is in series between them,

suchresonator being adapted to produce au-.

dible sensations from electric impulses.

2. An apparatus for locating mineral deposits conslsting of a combinationof a source of electricity, an inductor consisting of the following parts namely, an electromagnet,

doubly wound, the prlmary circuit of which is adapted to be traversed by the electricit from the above-mentioned source, a brea for the primary circuit, a condenser having each of its two elements joined to the primary circuit with the break between the connections, two portable electrodes which are electrically connected, having the source of electricity and inductor in series between which is occasionally found useful in very dry them, two other portable electrodes which posits consisting of a combination of a source of electricity, an inductor, consisting of the following. parts namely, an electromagnet,

-- denser for the primary circuit, a second.

doubly wound, the primary circuit of which mary circuit with the break between the con nections, a sparking gap on the secondary circuit, a condenser having each of its two elements joined to the secondary circuit with thesparking ap between the connections, two portable e ectrodes which are electrically connected, having the source of electricity and inductor in series between them, two other portable electrodes which are electrically connected and a resonator which is in series between them, such resonator being adapted to produce audible sensations from electric impulses. f

4. An apparatus for locating mineral deposits consisting of a source of electricity, an eleotromagnet doubly wound, the primary circuit of which is adapted to be traversed by the electricity from the above mentioned source, a break for the primary circuit, a

sparking gap for the secondary circuit, a condenser for the secondary adapted to be graded 1n capacity, and two portable electrodes adapted to make earth contact, and a resonator and two other portable electrodes in series therewith, substantially as described.

5. An apparatus for locating mineral deposits consisting of a source of electricity, an

-eiectromagnet, doubly wound, the primary circuit of which is adapted to be traversed by the electricity from the above mentioned source, an adjustable armature which is adapted to vary the airap of the poles of the magnet, a switch which is adapted to place the two primary coils in series or in parallel as desired, a du licate break for the primary circuit inde en ently operated by an electromagnet an armature, the two breaking-contacts of which are adapted to be placed in series'or in arallel and adapted to be synchronous or iscordant in their breaking, a con switch which is adapted to place the two secondarycoils in series or in parallelas desired,

a sparking gap for the secondary circuit, a condenser for the secondary circuit adapted to be graded in ca acity, a motor-driven high-frequency breafor the s'econdary,-and two portable electrodes adapted to make earth contact and a resonator and two other" portable electrodes in series therewith, substantially as described. s

6. An apparatus for osits consisting of a source of electricity, an inductor which is adapted to emitfiuctuating impulses, the secondary of said inductor being ad'ustable as to'inductance and capacity, a con enser adjustable as "to capacit two portable electrodes which are electric'a yconnected, having the battery and inductor in series between them, two'other portable electrodes which are electrically connected and a telephone-receiver which is in series between them, substantially as described.

7. An apparatus for locating mlneral deposits consistin of a source of electricity, an,

locating mineral def inductor which is adapted to emit fluctuating, w

impulses, the secondary of said inductor being adjustable as to inductance and capacity,

a condenser adjustable as to capacity, two portable electrodes which are electrically connected, having the battery and inductor in series between them, two other portable electrodes which are electrically connected and a telephone-receiver which is in series between them, said tele hone-receiver being adjustable to accord with the adjustments of the other parts of the apparatus, substantially as described. Y I

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our invention we have signed'our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

/ Iraoniir'r.v

- ALFRED WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

T. A. H. CARsoN, WALTER J. SKERTEN. 

